[AKBLUE]

The Yugosloavian M76 rifles are very nice to shoot and are quite accurate.

The aggravating issue is the follower in the magazine nosedives and jams into the magazine body on the last round instead of acting as a bolt hold open (BHO).
This has been discussed in a few posts and one or two remedies were offered.

IMHO the problem is the magazine follower lacks a sufficiently long "skirt" to prevent the follower from being tipped forward by the bolt after the last round is fired and jams into the mag., body and is a b1tch to remove from the mag well as it bulges the mag.

Some years ago I had a follower welded up with a long skirt and it did resolve the "nose diving" issue but it only held like 6 or 7 rounds.., see MOD 1.,

I did not get back to experiment much until recently.

So in Mod 2., instead of the original follower mod using a gas welded 'U' shaped girder style skirt I spot welded a piece of .035" sheet steel to the inside of the rear of the follower. This worked pretty well for up to 9 rounds.

In MOD 3., I used the same sheet steel but spot welded it to the rear outside of the follower. This allowed for a tighter fit and the skirt could be trimmed to about .250" length below the follower bottom and allow 10 rounds to be loaded.

It works perfectly and acts as a bolt hold open for the last round and prevents the follower from nose diving.

I have done 4 so far and plan to do more.
So if you own or have access to a spot welder you can do the same and solve this pesky issue. I'm a happy, nosedive free camper.

UPDATE: Since this post I have started to use old scrap pieces cut from the receiver stubs from 1mm AKM parts kits. These are heat treated and very durable. Once spot welded they need a bit of belt sanding to get them a little thinner or shorter for all 10 rounds to be loaded in the mag. Cold blue and oil and done.

 

[arcom the first]

Another quality fix from the W.E.C.S.O.G. And a possible money making enterprise to boot!

 

[hansellhd2]

Cool, I'm in if you wat to sell any.

HDH.

 

[christopherdx3]

yeah i would be willing to pay a little if this fix works !

 

[AKBLUE]

The fix works great. My intention is not to sell these but pass along my discovery/remedy. It is an easy fix with a spot welder. Most AK builders or build parties will have one. The steel sheet stock is .035 thick.
Very satisfying not to have to wrestle the mag from the well after the last round.

 

[Black Blade]

Well if you ever decide to make a few and offer them up for sale just let us know. I have gone through several mags and maybe one out of five work to my satisfaction. Anyhow, thanks for the info.

 

[marks67rover]

Does anyone know if the Yugoslavs have encountered the same problem? Or is the nose over a result of a out of spec reverse engineered American receiver?

 

[AKBLUE]

Does anyone know if the Yugoslavs have encountered the same problem? Or is the nose over a result of a out of spec reverse engineered American receiver?

I dunno., I have never gotten an answer from the Mitchell import owners., many of them are not shooters so the rifles are just collection fodder. I have thought it could be a USA looser tolerance receiver or the original may have had some support in the center of the mag well to prevent the mag from opening/swelling.
But the magazines lack of a skirt on the follower like almost every other semi-auto mag has me wondering as well. That is why the simple spot welded skirt solves the problem so easily. One would think it should have been designed in that manner to start with. But dunno., and not sure it matters now as mine are fixed. At least all the ones I have modded so far.

 

[joezeta2]

Thats a Great Fix....... I plan to finally shoot my Mitchell this summer.....im curious if it will have this issue..... will report back.

Joezeta

 

[pop63]

Excellent information !

 

[PAD]

I know this is an old post....Hey Joe Z!

Hope this info helps.....the nose dive follower is a problem in every M76, all of them. Here's what they did, and why, so you can do the same if you wish. It's about round count....the Yugoslavian Army Units would load the last two rounds with Tracer. When number nine was sent, they would cycle out number ten and place in a new mag.

The team of engineers at that time, had completed the rifles. The engineer that completed the magazines for testing, passed away. They went into production with the existing design anyhow to meet delivery. Yes it's a bit of a conundrum, but the early swap out does alleviate the functional utility issue.

Kudos to the guy above who has a nit in his whit, to fix it. Your a smart guy!

Also if your reading this.....I want to impart some information. Do not waste your money on the M75 ammunition being sold as Sniper Grade Ammo for the M76. Its is not M76 sniper ammo at all. It is pure marketing BS. The tear sheets on these cases have the standard application for this ammo such as the M48, their MG 42 Copy etc. Nowhere is the M76 stated.....does not exist. Why? Becuase the dedicated Sniper round was a 174grn 7.9 round made by Igman. This is why when people used the Romanian 8mm they had more than acceptable accuracy compared to most ammo. WWII German ball is superb, but be aware it's now been many years in Centurys warehouse and primer duds are now not uncommon!

Even better....especially for the match grade cut Green Mountain barreled rifles, and the originals, is Hornady Match 8mm 198grn and lots of the 198 Match Igman....both are the Standard for maximum performance in these rifles. Expect 3/4" to a Max of 1 3/4" at 100yrds.....once the barrels are warmed 2 to 3 1/2" spread....which is the are the size of say your fist closed, as some know the reference I make.

Be safe and enjoy your hobby.

 

[Hal O'Peridol]

Yes, I still have a box of the Privi 8mm match left over from when I had my m76 (CAI) rifle.